


Star

by sainnis



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Missing Scene, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-17
Updated: 2013-03-17
Packaged: 2017-12-05 15:57:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,025
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/725121
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sainnis/pseuds/sainnis
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>During Sirius' time on the run after escaping Azkaban, he finds a safe place to lie low.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Star

Fumbling for his keys, Remus shifted the bag of groceries to his other hip. Snow drifted from his shoulders and hair, melting in the heat of the foyer of his apartment building. He pushed the door open with an elbow, exhaling as shut it behind him and breathed in the scent of home.

  
And, strangely, wet dog.

  
He dropped the groceries, a can of tuna rolling across the threadbare rug. Muddy pawprints marked the wooden floor where the carpet ended, and led down the hallway to his bedroom. Remus took a steadying breath, touching his back pocket to ensure his wand was there. He hadn’t seen Sirius in months, and he wasn’t sure what he was going to find.

  
Walking quietly down the hall, he stopped at his room, peering in. Through the fading afternoon light, he saw Sirius sprawled across his bed, snoring softly. He was soaked and covered in mud, and leaves littered his hair.

  
“Padfoot,” he said softly, reaching out to touch him.

  
Sirius’ eyes flashed open, and caught Remus’ wrist in a painful grip. Sirius blinked, and he relaxed his grip, but didn’t release his hold, a half-smile turning his lips. “Moony.”

“I thought you were someplace warm.”

Sirius laughed, sitting up to brush snow from Remus’ hair. “I am someplace warm.”

A moment later his lips were on Remus’, and they embraced in the way people did when not surrounded by preteen wizards. “Are you sure,” Remus said, taking a quick breath as Sirius’ slim hands slipped inside the gap between the buttons of his shirt, “you’re safe here?”

Sirius leaned back, grinning. “Safe as houses.”

Remus pulled him closer, breathing in the scent of sweat and dirt. “I think you brought in half the Highlands with you.”

“Next time I crash at your place while on the run for my life, I promise to shower first.” Sirius kissed him again, and Remus fell back against the bed, letting Sirius push him down.

As Sirius straddled his hips, he started to undo the buttons at Remus’ throat. Remus chuckled, running his hands against Sirius’ wiry thighs. “You don’t weigh as much as you used to.”

Sirius narrowed his gaze, his sharp eyebrows rising. “It’s called the Azkaban diet. It’s all the rage in Paris.” He caressed Remus’ stomach. “You still look like a starving artist.”

Blood rose to Remus’ cheeks. “I’m hungry all the time. At Hogwarts I had to be careful. Now that I’m unemployed, I’m not trying to fool anybody.” The truth was, even if he ate all day long, he never really felt satiated, and he never gained weight.

Sirius brushed his hand over Remus’ forehead. “I forgot how beautiful you are.”

Remus ducked his head, shaking it. “I’m not. I’m an old man, with the gray hair and aching bones to prove it.”

“I like your hair. It makes you look…distinguished.”

Remus smiled, even though he didn’t believe him. “Yours is, well, a bit less so.”

“I should think. I was going for ‘Nutjob Hermit.’”

They laughed, and for a moment Remus felt like he was a teenager again. Sirius pressed his hand between Remus’ legs, a mischievous grin on his face. “You don’t seem much like an old man to me.”

Remus drew a shaky breath, his pulse racing. “I’ll take that as a compliment.”

“You should.” Sirius leaned over him, their chests touching as he breathed softly in Remus’ ear. “I’m a dirty, dirty man.”

Remus’ laugh rang out, and he wondered how long that sound had been hiding out inside him. “You really are.”

“I know.” Sirius pulled back. “Come shower with me. Then I can prove beyond any doubt you’re no old man.”

Remus grinned, pointing towards the bathroom. “I can do you one better. Go look in there.”

Climbing gracefully off of him, Sirius padded across the floor to the bathroom, and Remus heard his gasp of delight. “Remus John Lupin. You’re practically an aristocrat!”

It had seemed like a ridiculous thing to buy at the time, especially since he could have bought many more books with the money, but he’d wanted one for his entire life. Teaching was the first job he’d had in a long time that gave him steady income, and Dumbledore had been more generous than he should have been. “You like it?”

“It’s so ridiculously huge and pompous. The Queen couldn’t possibly have a bigger one.” Sirius ran his hand around the rim. “Plus it has feet, which is the mark of a nobleman’s tub.”

Remus plugged the drain and turned the tap on. “Wait until you get in.”

Once the tub filled, Remus stuck his wand in, speaking a warming charm. Sirius had already stripped off his clothes, and he sank in, groaning loudly in pleasure.  
Remus followed suit, aware that Sirius’ eyes were fixed on him as he removed his clothes. “Get in here,” Sirius said, his voice half drawl, half growl.

  
The water suffused his skin with perfect warmth, relaxing his muscles as he settled at the opposite end of the tub. Their knees touched beneath the water’s surface, and Sirius cackled like a child when he discovered the bottle of bubbles next to the tub. In moments the water was slick with iridescent bubbly froth.

Sirius let out a long breath, tipping back his head against the rim of the tub. “I feel like I’m in a dream.”

Steam rose from the water’s surface, surrounding Sirius’ body like a halo. His skin, though still pale from years of confinement, seemed to glow as if he was lit from within. Despite the ravages of time and torture, the spark that was Sirius Black still existed, and the longer Remus stared, the more he saw it. In spite of it all, Sirius still shone.

“Moony? You all right?”

Remus found Sirius’ hand beneath the water, and then drew it to his lips, kissing the wet skin of his knuckles. “Just fine.”

“I’m thinking,” Sirius said, “I should lay low here for awhile, if that suits you.”

Remus smiled, reaching out to brush bubbles from Sirius’ cheek. “Lie here as long as you like.”


End file.
